An age-old problem, a never- ending controversy — student parking space on campus.

Douglas Houghton, program coordinator of the Department of Public Safety at Iowa State, said the biggest problem with the added automobiles that fall brings is a lack of space. “About a year ago we had a study done, which concluded that there aren’t enough parking spaces in core campus.”

Houghton said there are about 75,000 tickets written by DPS every year, although he admits that a number of them are appealed once the circumstances behind the ticket are known.

“We’d prefer not to write tickets,” said Sgt. Jim Robinson of the Ames Police Department. “It’s really just a matter of reading and following the ordinances.”

Perhaps the most infamous of these ordinances is the one requiring people to park on opposite sides of the street on alternate days. Robinson said this ordinance was designed to prevent people from using the street as a storage area.

He said that people would park their cars there and leave them. Besides curtailing vehicle abandonment, this prevents street congestion.

Melissa McCord, a sophomore in animal science, is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. At her house there is a 20-spot parking lot with spaces rationed according to age and year.

McCord has to park on the street, and she said having to move every night is “really, really a pain.” Last year, she said she received quite a few tickets for not moving her car, and she’s already received two this year.

Besides the greeks, many off-campus students find themselves aggravated with the current parking situation. “What’s the biggest hassle with the parking? It’s that there’s no place to park,” said Dave Sigler, a junior in finance. He parks a couple of blocks from campus because of his job, and he said it can be tough to get close. “Everyone goes where there’s a spot. When I have to work, I can’t sit around and wait for the bus, I have to get out of there.”

Houghton offers a simple answer to the off-campus dilemma. “Off campus students should really look into Cy-Ride. We have a really good bus system; a number of people just don’t know how to use it.”

When it comes to the residence halls, Houghton recommended that students consider how important having a car is to them.

He said there is a brochure in the works which will explain all of the ISU parking options, along with the students’ rights and responsibilities.

Stuart Helming, a sophomore in agriculture systems technology, lives in the Towers Residence Association, which has its own parking lot. “The lot is really convenient to Towers residents, and there’s always a spot to park.”

At the opposite end of parking convenience are the Union Drive Association residents, who have to park at the stadium.

“It’s a pain going to get your vehicle whenever you want to drive,” said Dan Logeman, freshman in landscape architecture and a Helser Hall resident.

He has security concerns as well. “I don’t think they really patrol the area or have much security in it.”

Also, he said, “I don’t really know where people are supposed to move to when there’s a home game; there’s not much room for all those cars.”

The decision as to whether or not to have a car at college, said Houghton, should be an influence when deciding which dorm to live in.

“There are tradeoffs. It’s easiest to park at Towers, but you’re farther away from campus.” For all students, regardless of where they choose to live, he said, “This is a walking campus — be prepared.”